Week 3, Day 4 (The busiest day of my life. No, that is not an exaggeration.)

6:30 am- Breakfast
Last night when I went to bed, I ignored my body a little bit. I was hungry but it was late and I didn't go downstairs to get food. Therefore, I paid for it this morning by waking up ravished. To boost my energy and keep me full, I tried to eat a lot of protein and get some fat in there as well. I had:

Luna protein bar (white chocolate macadamia nut flavor, which was actually delicious)
8 oz. 2% Milk
1 medium-large Pink Lady apple
Approximately 1.5 tablespoons peanut butter

9:00 am- Candy Fix
I was still hungry after breakfast and wanted a little sugar boost. I opted for chocolates with some peanut butter. I had:

2 Cookies n' Cream eggs
2 Peanut butter Treasures (which have delicious real peanut butter inside and I cannot get enough of them)
A few Reece's Pieces

9:30 am- Appointment with Tracy Williams
Today, because I got cleared by the doctor, Tracy actually let me do some exercises. She was working with Courtney again today, and in between her sets, she allowed me to work a little bit too. What I was most surprised by was the fact that they looked really easy when she did them, but the minute I tried, it became impossible. Courtney was using a bar with about 10-25 pounds on each side that she would take off the rack and do very deep squats with. After about 6 or 7, she would get super tired and look like she was going to cry. I couldn't really comprehend how challenging it was until Tracy took off all the weight except 10 pounds on each side and had me try it. I made it through two squats (done completely wrong, might I add) before Tracy told me to rack it. She then pulled me aside and talked to me about staying off my toes when I squat.

11:30 am- Training with Ann Marie
Today with Ann Marie, we did a lot. We focused mostly on back, legs, and butt. To begin, we reviewed a pull down with a special grip that works well for me and makes me feel in in my back. We also did a machine that was like a free-weight pull down that I liked a lot. Basically, she had me go really slow, with short movements to isolate my back so that I could feel it. Because I am so flexible, many times I do these big, huge motions and can't feel the exercise. I need to keep everything I do contained. One of Ann Marie's favorite things to have me do when we are on the floor is called the pelvis lift. Sometimes I use a "magic ball," sometimes my bent legs are planted right behind my butt. I inhale, raise my pelvis to my shoulder blades off the floor, hold it, then drop it back down to the floor on an exhale, vertebrae by vertebrae. When we started getting into yoga, we did a lot of a pose called cat (where you are on your hands and knees and slightly shift your weight forward, pushing your chest out and arching your back) into child's pose (where you go from cat's pose to shifting weight backwards, lifting your stomach towards the ceiling therefore curling your back, and relaxing back into sitting on your calves with forehead on the ground and arms outstretched in front of you.) These things sound simple but we did variations and exercises from these positions that really made me feel the work I was doing.

10:45 am- Lunch
I came home and I was hungry again, as I knew I would be. I really wanted this can of Campbell's Corn Chowder I had my eye on. I know that my meal choices dont sound the greatest up to this point today, but please keep in mind I did three sessions of personal training, plus a fitness class today. I needed fuel. Plus, corn chowder has fat and protein that kept me full.

Campbell's Corn Chowder
Mixed blueberries and watermelon

1:00 pm- Snack
Before Training again, this time with Nurse Gali, I knew I needed some more food. I went with milk for protein and Danish because I have been craving dessert food like a fiend. Originally, I had an ice cream sandwich out on the counter as well. But as soon as I finished the Danish, I knew that was overkill. In the old days, I would have eaten both just because they were there.

Cheese Danish and Milk

2:00 pm- Training with Nurse Gali
Because Kari Gali is our Hawken school nurse, I never really look at her from a fitness or athletic standpoint. This project has forced me to change that, and let me tell you, she is in absolutely rockin' shape. Her arms make me feel bad about myself. Today, we focused on chest and back. The biggest difference between her and Ann Marie is how much weight they make me use, and how many reps they have me do. Ann Marie puts me on very light weights, and has me do about 10-12 reps over and over. Nurse Gali puts me on weights that border on too heavy for me and has me work til failure or 15 reps--whichever comes first. Nurse Gali has been giving me a variety of exercises to use when I'm away at college because she found part of my problem was the fact that there was no variety to my workout routine. She also game me a whole bunch of quick things to do in my dorm room if ever i can't find time to make it to the athletic center. One of these looked something like this:

Holding two, 5 pound free-weights, get in plank or push up position. Then, rotate the body to one side, while lifting the arm and the weight on that side completely straight over head. Then switch sides.

I found that this was extremely challenging, especially on my left side, where my arm would shake and I found myself plopping the weight down instead of setting it on the ground in a controlled manner. Nurse Gali, of course, made this exercise look easy.

One thing she asked me today that really got me thinking was whether I'm the type of person who likes to work hard and be challenged. The answer to that question is complicated. I am very all or nothing. I either have to be working extremely hard with a high level of intensity, or I need to be relaxed and having fun. My soccer and basketball careers at Hawken have been that kind of extremely intense, walk off the field crying or crawling, swear I'll never play sports again type of deal. Thought at the time, I loved feeling like I worked really hard, the next day it was nearly impossible to drag myself back to practice. On the other hand, if I'm having fun and the exercise seems manageable, I can do it for hours. Am I getting results more quickly if I go the intensity route? Yes. Am I far more likely to give up? Yes, again. Bottom Line: I would rather do something I like, and expend a little less energy, but be able to continue it in the long run.

I found that this question/answer very much defined the rest of my day.

3:30 pm- Light Snack
I was hungry but didn't want to eat too heavily to early and then get hungry late at night. I was headed off to Hawken to play soccer with my little brother, Anderson. So to hold myself over, I had:

2 rings of pineapple
2 slices thinly sliced light hard salami

4:00 pm- Soccer with Anderson
I cannot tell you how amazing it felt the first time I dove today. Even though Anderson scored the goal, and was busily gloating like any sixth grade boy would, I couldn't wipe the smile off my face. I LOVE playing goalie. I love diving, I love making great saves, I love being the boss of the defense--I love everything about the position. If all soccer was about was me marching out to the field and just having people shoot on me, or playing in games, I would do it for the rest of my life. Unfortunately, here is where that question from nurse Gali comes in. I hated practice. It was 3 hours long, and I always had to run with my teammates (and my coach was a fitness FREAK), then while they got water, go do my own goalie drills. I had to deal with an insane amount of drama (that comes with being on any high level girls' team), especially being a captain my senior year. I had pressure up to my ears, especially because there were a lot of people predicting either Hawken or HB to win States for girls' Division II. I also could never take a break, even if my body was screaming at me. All of that intensity eventually led to the decision that I didn't want anything to do with the sport in college (along with a skewed perception of reality due to a broken fibula). If soccer had just been all about making saves and messing around with Anderson, I would have done it forever.

With that being said, for the most part, Anderson owned me. He is extremely talented for his age, and I hadn't jumped, dove, or caught a ball since August 26. Once I got warmed up, I pulled down a couple really nice diving saves that made me think that playing goalie is like riding a bike--you never really lose your touch.I told him not to get used to beating up on me so badly. His days were numbered.

5:30 pm- Dinner
After soccer, I wanted to run home and get some dinner before Triple Fit at Urban Active. I had a lot of carbs and junk ealier, so I wanted a good helping of protein to get me through class. I had:

2 Plain David Berg Hot Dogs (no bun, no nothing)
1-1.5 servings Double Fudge Brownie slow churned ice cream (yes, this is still junk. but it also offers calcium and fat which are necessary for me to perform at my highest level.)

6:20 pm- Triple Fit
This was by far the hardest class I have ever taken at Urban Active. And again, going back to Nurse Gali's question--yes, it was great to work that hard. But honestly, I don't know if I will ever be able to make myself go back to that class. It was not fun. There is absolutely no appeal or incentive for me to go back. I guess it will all depend on how motivated I am next Thursday, and trust me, that varies from day to day. The instructor was of the Tracy Williams build--tan, extremely muscular, and beyond intense. The worst aspect of the class was moving straight from 4 minutes of cardio to 3 minutes of legs. All that the "legs" portion entailed was 3 minutes of repeated squatting. I had already done squats with Tracy and Ann Marie. I didn't want to do any more. Especially not like 6 or 7 sets of them. The free-weight work was a nice little break, and I didn't mind the cardio--it felt good to be moving that fast and freely and jumping around. It was just going straight into squats that made me want to ball up on the floor. Despite my aggravation, I made it through the class, and took my good, sweet time walking out to my car.

8:30 pm- Another Snack. I was starving.
As I drove home from class, my stomach started rumbling to the point where I actually felt sharp physical pain. I needed food ASAP. I walked in and grabbed:

Medium bowl of mixed Cheerios and Cinnamon Toast Crunch with Milk
Serving Cheese Twisties (they looked too good to pass on)

Today my food choices were a bit questionable. But with this much activity, I really didn't care what I was eating, as long as it was food. On days with less activity, I am much more conscious of my choices, but today was a special day.

Reading Material

For those of you who don't know, I have been reading The Secret by Rhonda Byrne as one of my supplementary books for this project. It is all about achieving everything you want by simply changing your frame of mind and outlook on life. In past posts, I have been giving tidbits and helpful hints from its pages.

More quotes and rules from The Secret:

"See the things that you want as already yours. Know that they will come to you at need. Then let them come. Don't think about your lack of them. Think of them as belonging to you, as already in your possession." Robert Collier

Anyone who ever accomplished anything did not know how they were going to do it, just that they were going to do it. Confidence is key. If you truly believe, then you will receive.

Now, you might understand why a person who says "I always get parking spaces" gets them. These people expect it. Begin to expect great things.

Ask, Believe, Receive.